International Travel
 

What is the better? Travelling Sim/Skype or Roaming apps?

T-Mobile.

What is special about T- mobile?

Wouldn't it make a difference where you are coming from and where you are going?

A lot would also depend on if you are planning to make lots of calls (and if they are within the country you visit or to your home country) or send many texts or use lots of data.

Actually, this link explains the international benefits of having T Mobile Simple plan, the link above does not:

http://www.t-mobile.com/optional-ser...KI1L5NJCEC3319

This is a good possibility for someone that (a) lives in the US and (b) is willing to switch to TMobile for their normal, everyday cell service. We did switch since we travel overseas quite often, so it was worth it to us. We are moving and our phones do not get service in our new location [Verizon works there] so we may switch as we don't plan to have land line.

Do you want to be able to make phone calls, text or use data??
That makes a difference.

If you want to make phone calls and text; skype works well for a small cost. We use Viber as well, but all parties involved need to sign up for Viber, which is free. Skype is also low cost and enables you to call nonmembers.

If you want data, using wifi at your location may be sufficient, depends on your needs.

On our first European trip, we used SIM card in France and it worked well; we only had phone calls on it, no data.

If you go to the Europe board [use the drop down menu above that says CHANGE FORUMS] there is lots of info there, do a search. If you post, be ready for the onslaught of replies, some of which will be less than polite. :)

I prefer voice calls. I used skype, facebook messenger etc but not much useful. What about travel apps and sim cards which work in 2-3 countries?

You can buy multi-country SIM cards from ekit.com or telestial.com. I find the quality of the calls is better with T-Mobile.

Check out Vasco Traveler device. It’s equipped with a SIM card that allows you to answer calls for free all around the world. Data transfer is as cheap as $0.05 per MB. You won’t find it cheaper.

Oh is it.just checked it.. seems bit expensive.. .Do Vasco ship device to any corner?

If you are a frequent traveller to many countries, apps and Skype would be the best as it will give you convenience of not buying SIM everytime you travel a different country. But if it is just one or two destinations, travel SIM can be a good option as you get data pack offers on the spot. I would not say Skype as this would limit you more to the calling part only.

We needed data, so we got a local SIM card in Italy. Getting it was a PITA because the office at the train station (our best option given that we were traveling onward from Rome by train) was just a cluster. There was a long line and their computer kept going on, etc. It took two or more hours to get it. I would have gladly switched to T-Mobile to avoid going through this again, but their coverage in my area is still pretty bad. Unless and until it gets better, I'm stuck with another carrier (Verizon) and using local SIM cards.

I take local sim often when i travel as i find it is the best way i save on roaming. Sometimes back i tried 3 apps flexi roam, ajura and the third i dont remember as i uninstalled. These apps allowed me to receive calls on my home country mobile number at very less cost. I liked it.

If you have Vonage at home, get the Vonage Extensions app and use that for your calls when abroad and have a good WiFi signal. Or use Google Hangouts.